


As Friends?

by HighWarlockOfCamelot



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Drinking, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Oblivious Clary Fray, Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-18 00:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15473958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighWarlockOfCamelot/pseuds/HighWarlockOfCamelot
Summary: Izzy keeps kissing Clary, but every time she does Clary thinks it doesn't mean anything, and that Izzy just thinks of her as a friend. With Alec's help, Izzy and Clary both finally realize that they both want to be together.Also: 5 times Clary thought Izzy kissing her was no big deal, and the one time she realized the truth.





	1. The First Time

The first time Izzy kissed Clary, it was casual to say the least. Izzy was getting ready for a date with Meliorn, and Clary was sitting at the end of her bed giving feedback on the various outfits that Izzy was trying on. Clary knew Isabelle only thought of her as a friend, but she felt jealous nonetheless. Meliorn would get to take the love of Clary’s life on a date, and all she could do was tell Izzy what she thought of her dresses. 

“What do you think of this one, Clary?” Isabelle asked, stepping out of her walk in closet wearing a wine-coloured bodycon dress. The dress had a plunging v-neck, showing off Izzy’s angelic rune on her chest. 

“I love that one!” Clary said, taking in the sight of Isabelle in that dress. She took Clary’s breath away every time she saw her, but this time, Clary thought she may never start breathing again, “You look incredible, as always, Iz,”

“You’re too sweet,” gushed Izzy as she pulled a pair of black stilettos off the shelf. Isabelle sat down at her vanity, bending down to put on her shoes, and then turning back to the mirror to fix her hair. 

“So,” started Clary, “Where is Meliron taking you?” as jealous as Clary was, she really was interested. She wanted Izzy to be happy, and if Meliorn was the person who made her happy, Clary would learn to live with that.

“He’s taking me to this fancy Seelie restaurant. I’ve never been, but Alec said that Magnus took him on a date there and it was absolutely fantastic,” Izzy explained, “Usually they only allow Seelies and their company, so I suppose Magnus called in a favour to get a table for him and Alec,”

“He really is wonderful to Alec,” Clary said, “He takes him to all these beautiful places…”

“Oh I know,” Izzy said, continuing to curl her hair “And the thing is, Alec would be happy without any of it, he just loves Magnus. I’m so glad Alec found someone so incredible, who he can actually let his guard down with. He’s a stoic man, my brother, but seeing his face when he’s around Magnus goes to show you that true love is real. I can only hope that I’ll find a love like that someday,”

“Maybe Meliorn is the one,” said Clary. She hated to say it, hoping that she was the one, but she really wanted to support Izzy’s romantic life, even if she wasn’t a part of it. 

“I doubt it,” Izzy laughed, “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy his company and he enjoys mine, but we are not in anyway serious about this relationship if you could even call it that. We go on dates, but if he found someone he loved, or I found someone I loved, we could let the other go, no problem,”

“So it’s just kind of a casual relationship?” Clary asked to confirm, “You’re both technically single but if you ever feel like going on a date, he’s there,”

“Exactly,” said Izzy, “It’s not like I want to be in this situation forever, but sometimes it’s nice to go out and have a romantic evening even if I’m not seeing anyone,” Izzy set down her curling iron and sifted through her makeup bag, pulling out a tube of lipgloss. Izzy carefully applied the lipgloss in the mirror, and rubbed her lips together. Clary was mesmerized by the sight of her. 

“What flavour is it?” Clary asked, trying her best to not show how breathtaking she thought her best friend was. 

“Strawberry,” responded Izzy, smiling at Clary, “Here, taste it,” Izzy planted a quick peck on Clary’s lips. 

Clary was shocked at Izzy kissing her, but tried to act casual anyways, “It tastes just like strawberries,” said Clary.

“Pretty great, huh?” Izzy said, turning away from Clary to pick up her bag and a leather jacket in case it got cold. 

“I’ll say,” responded Clary, meaning both the kiss and the lipgloss. 

“Anyways,” started Izzy, “I have to run, Meliorn should be waiting outside the Institute for me,”

“Have fun on your date,” said Clary, walking out of Izzy’s room with her and going in a separate direction to her room. 

✤✤✤

Clary walked into her room and collapsed onto her bed. She just got a kiss from the woman of her dreams, but then she left to go on a date with someone else. Clary was sure this kiss meant nothing, ‘she just wanted me to taste the lipgloss,’ thought Clary. 

As much as Clary wanted it to mean something, Izzy wouldn’t have been going out on a date if it did. Izzy was probably straight anyways, and this was just one of those things straight woman friends did. Clary tried to push it out of her mind, she already felt guilty for being in love with Izzy. The last thing Clary wanted was to take this the wrong way, and risk creeping Isabelle out. 

Clary figured she would have to suffer through having an unrequited crush on Izzy anyways, it just got a little bit more complicated when Izzy decided to kiss Clary, even if she did mean it in a platonic way.


	2. The Second Time

The second time Izzy kissed Clary it caught her off guard a little bit less. Izzy decided that she didn’t want to date Meliron anymore.  
“I just feel like it’s never going to go anywhere, so what’s the point?” said Izzy, “Besides, I’m pretty sure he has a thing for this Vampire anyways, and I think she would make him happy so she should be with him,”  
“That’s true,” said Clary, “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being single if you don’t have someone you’re interested in,”  
“You’re right,” said Izzy, “I just find it awkward hanging out with Magnus and Alec, and my mom and Luke when I’m the only one who’s single,”  
“I get it. It can be awkward hanging out around couples all the time,” said Clary, “I heard about this single’s party going on tonight if you wanted to go and be around other single people,”  
“Sounds fun,” said Izzy.  
✤✤✤  
The party was pretty boring, all things considered. It felt a lot like a highschool party than a fun event for single shadowhunters. There was music playing over a speaker system, a table holding chips and bottles of beer, and a lot of people standing around awkwardly. Clary assumed it would either be a fun party without couples or a way for single people to meet someone, but it ended up a lot more like a pity party.  
There were some seemingly desperate people who had already found each other and began making out on the dancefloor. There were some other people who stood along the walls quietly taking sips of their drinks. There were also a few solo dancers filling the empty spaces of the dancefloor.  
Izzy and Clary decided they would have a drink and then dance. Halfway through the third song, a yelling voice encouraged everyone to get in a circle on the dancefloor for a game of spin the bottle.  
“If this didn’t feel like a highschool party already…” mumbled Clary.  
“I don’t think I’ve played this since I was 16-years-old,” laughed Izzy, “but it should be interesting,”  
A man with bleach blond hair spun the bottle to start, it landed on a brunette woman sitting across the circle, they shared a mildly awkward kiss. Next, a man with dyed blue hair spun the bottle, it landed on the blond man who spun the bottle first. He kissed him on the cheek and then they moved on with the game.  
Eventually it was Clary’s turn, she spun the bottle and it landed on a man across the circle who had jet black hair and wore glasses. Clary gave him a quick peck on the lips and then headed back to her spot.  
Next it was Izzy’s turn. Izzy carefully spun the bottle and it pointed back towards Clary. Izzy shifted her body to lean towards Clary. She brought her hand up to cup Clary’s face, and planted a sweet kiss on Clary’s lips.  
The kiss was more than a peck this time, and Clary could almost feel herself melt. She reminded herself that this was just for a game, and the kiss didn’t actually mean anything, yet again.  
When Izzy pulled back she smiled at Clary, and tucked a strand of Clary’s wavy red hair behind her ear. Then, she turned back to face the rest of the circle. The game continued for a little while longer, then Clary and Izzy decided it was time to go home.  
Clary expected the trip back to the Institute to be uncomfortable, but Izzy carried on as if nothing had happened, which left Clary with no choice but to play it cool. She had now kissed the woman she loved twice, but she did not feel the same way.  
Clary didn’t know what to do about all of this, in any other situation she would have asked Izzy, but clearly that was out of the question. She considered calling Magnus to tell him, but what was there to tell? She had shared two kisses with Izzy but neither meant anything.


	3. The Third Time

The third time Izzy kissed Clary it was perhaps an accident. Clary, Izzy, Simon, Maia, Jace, Alec, and Magnus were all at Hunter’s Moon for a part, when Izzy may have had a few too many. Clary was sitting at a booth with Jace, Alec, and Magnus while Simon flirted with Maia at the bar. 

Izzy was a few metres away dancing with a man she just met, and appeared to be having the time of her life. Clary couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous as her eye caught Izzy and the man on the dancefloor.

“Cyrus Bellerose,” said Magnus, noticing Clary staring at Izzy and the man dancing, “He’s a vampire. Over 200-years-old, I think. He turned when he was 23,”

“How do you know him?” asked Jace.

“Camille dated him before she dated me,” said Magnus looking visibly uncomfortable talking about Camille, “I was friends with many of the people Camille spent time with even before she and I began dating. He has always seemed like a decent man,”

“Izzy seems to think so,” commented Clary. 

“I don’t think anything serious will come of this,” said Magnus, trying to keep Clary from feeling like her chance with Izzy was gone, although Clary was sure she never had a chance in the first place.

“You’re just saying that because you know I like her,” said Clary, Magnus’ comment having not made her feel any better about the situation. He never would have said that if Clary did not spend an hour on his couch the week before gushing about Izzy and complaining about how they would never be together. 

“You like Izzy?” asked Alec, choking on a sip of his drink.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Jace.

“Because I was really going to tell my ex-boyfriend I have a massive crush on his sister?” Clary shrugged, “I told Magnus,”

“But no one told me,” said Alec.

“I was just keeping it a secret, as per Clary’s request,” said Magnus, “Ex-boyfriend or not, I don’t think she felt like mentioning it to any of Isabelle’s brothers,”

“Exactly!” Clary exclaimed, “So we can drop it now,”

“You’re the one who brought it up,” mentioned Jace. 

“And I’m regretting it,” Clary joked.

“Why,” asked Alec, “We can figure out if Izzy likes you back,”

“You’re really going to set me up with your sister?” asked Clary, not trusting Alec’s sincerity, “When I first got here you couldn’t stand the sight of me,”

“People change,” Alec shrugged, “I think you and Izzy would be good together. She deserves someone who makes her happy and cares about her as much as you do,”

“Would you look at that,” said Jace mockingly, “Alec Lightwood being all loving and sentimental,”

“Yeah,” said Alec, in a monotone voice, “I’m like that sometimes, if you could believe it,” Alec turned to Magnus, “I’m going to grab another drink, do you want one?”

“Sure, I’ll get whatever you’re having. Thank you, Alexander,” said Magnus, giving Alec a peck on the lips followed by an exchange of sweet smiles. 

Just as Alec walked away, Izzy was headed towards their booth from the dancefloor. She passed Alec on the way back, who promptly turned back to the table to dramatically wink at Clary. 

“Hey,” said Izzy, as she half-stumbled over to the table, “have all of you been having a fun night?” she slurred her words together. They all assured her they were having a great time. 

“Were you having fun dancing with Cyrus?” asked Magnus.

“Was that his name?” asked Izzy as she flopped into the booth beside Clary, “It was fun, yeah,” She turned to Clary, “We should go dance,”

“Sure,” said Clary as she followed Izzy to the dance floor. Her and Izzy began dancing with Izzy’s arm resting on Clary’s shoulder. Clary realized it was probably for stability, but she couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. 

As the song ended the crowd began cheering. Izzy threw her arms up in excitement, then promptly brought them both down to Clary’s shoulders. Izzy leaned in and kissed Clary quickly on the lips, then threw her hands up and began cheering again. 

Clary didn’t know how to react to Izzy kissing her. She tried to play it cool and began cheering with the rest of the crowd. Clary was sure this kiss didn’t mean anything either; Izzy was drunk out of her mind. She just got like this when she was drunk, it didn’t mean that she was actually interested in Clary or that Izzy even liked girls. 

After Clary got back to the institute that night she decided to call Magnus and tell him how Izzy had kissed her three times. She was sure the kisses meant nothing to Izzy, but she was going crazy not telling anyone. 

Magnus seemed to think that those kisses meant more than Clary thought they did, and Alec seemed to agree once he sat down beside Magnus and asked him to put it on speakerphone. 

“Clary,” said Alec, “She wouldn’t kiss you if she didn’t want to,”

“Alec’s right,” said Magnus, “If these were coincidences or meaningless kisses I don’t think it would have happened three times,”

Clary agreed that Alec was right, but Izzy wanting to kiss her didn’t mean that she actually had feelings for her. Izzy kissed Clary the night she went out with Meliorn, and it seemed pretty platonic. All Clary knew was that Izzy had kissed her three times already, and she really wanted it to happen again.


	4. The Fourth Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been adding notes to the chapters, but I wanted to add notes in front of this one to warn you about the homophobia in this chapter. If you want to skip this chapter because you're concerned about it being triggering or you just don't want to read about homophobia I totally get that. I'll leave a summary of what happens in the notes at the end of the chapter so you know what happens. This chapter is mainly about confronting homophobia, and less about Izzy kissing Clary, although that still does happen in this chapter.

As it happened, Clary got her wish. Although, this time Clary was much too angry to enjoy the kiss. There were some Shadowhunters that just transferred from the Melbourne Institute who were being trained at the New York Institute. Izzy and Clary agreed to help Alec show them around the institute and begin their training for the first day. 

“Now that we have shown you the Institute, we will begin your training,” said Alec to the group, “It’s 5 o’clock now, so we will take an hour break for dinner then we will begin some sparring with the Seraph blades,” The group began to find places to sit and eat dinner in the dining room. 

“Have some time to eat dinner together, Alexander?” asked Magnus as he walked into the room and over to Alec.

“Of course,” said Alec, planting a chaste kiss on Magnus’ lips, “Did you want to have dinner here?”

“I actually have a meal prepared back at the loft,” said Magnus, “We can portal there, eat, and then I’ll have you back here in no time,”

“That sounds wonderful,” Alec said with a smile. He turned to Clary and Izzy, “Do you two mind if I take of for a little bit?”

“Not at all,” said Izzy.

“Are you sure?” asked Alec, “I don’t want run off on you if you need me to stay,”

“We’ll manage,” said Clary, shooing Alec away, “Go have dinner with your boyfriend,”

Alec flashed them a grateful smile then took Magnus’ hand and left the room. Just as they crossed the threshold of the dining room doorway into the hall Izzy heard a scoff from close behind her. She and Clary turned around to see one of the trainees facing the door with a disgusted look on his face. 

“Do you have something to say,” asked Izzy, glaring at the young man. He looked to be at a loss for words, “What is your name?”

“Whitacre. Jeremy Whitacre,” He was blunt in the way he spoke, yet there was a slight fear in his voice.

“Whitacre, do you have a problem with Alec leaving for dinner?” asked Izzy, quite directly.

“Not exactly,” said Whitacre, his tone was much less confident now.

“Then please, tell me what your problem is,” said Izzy, crossing her arms, waiting for him to speak. A majority of the dining room was now turned to face them.

“It’s not that he’s leaving, it’s who he’s leaving with,” his voice was almost a mumble at this point. 

“And what is wrong with who he’s leaving with?” said Izzy, waiting for Whitacre to admit his thoughts before confronting him on them. 

Whitacre fell silent for several moments, “Isn’t it obvious. He’s a guy,”

“First of all, I want to know why you think you have any place insulting the Head of the Institute or his boyfriend. I don’t know how it is in Melbourne, but here at the New York Institute we respect those in command. Second, how poorly raised were you to have any sort of issue with a healthy relationship between two people who love each other?” Izzy remained calm, but extremely stern under these conditions. Meanwhile, Clary was holding herself back from ripping this guy’s head off. Clary admired Izzy’s ability to confront Whitacre without losing her cool. 

“I wouldn’t have said anything if they weren’t shoving it in our faces like that!” said Whitacre in a tone near yelling. 

“This is how they kissed each other,” said Izzy, she turned to Clary and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, the same way Alec had kissed Magnus earlier/ Clary was caught off guard by the kiss, but she was too caught up in the argument to think about it, “You would have had no problem if Alec had a girlfriend who came in here and kissed him like that in front of you,”

“Because if it was a girl he kissed that would have been normal!” Whitacre yelled, “I came here to train, not to see some gross shit and then have some bitch lecture me for reacting to it the way any sane person would!”

Clary had heard enough. She took a step towards Whitacre and hit him with a punch to the right side of his face. The room fell dead silent. Whitacre used a healing rune to recover quickly, but he realized there was no way he would win this fight so he sat down and ate his dinner. 

When Alec came back they carried on as if nothing had happened. The trainees did their sparring, instructed by Alec, Izzy, and Clary. Izzy and Clary decided not to tell Alec about what happened with Whitacre. Alec had enough stress already, and enough people insulting him and Magnus; he really didn’t need to hear about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Izzy, Alec, and Clary are training some people who are new to the institute. When they take a break for lunch, Magnus comes by and takes Alec out for lunch. One of the trainees gets upset about Alec dating a man, and Izzy confronts him. To make a point during her argument, she kisses Clary. Clary ends up punching the homophobe in the face. They don't tell Alec about it because they don't want to tell him about what the trainee said.


	5. The Fifth Time

The fifth time Izzy kissed Clary, she made it quite clear why she was kissing her. Simon, Maia, Jace, Alec, Magnus, Izzy, and Clary were all at Magnus’ loft for the evening. They all arrived at varying times and got comfortable in the living room with their choice of drink. 

“Alright,” said Jace, “Time for a drinking game,” his announcement was met with a collective groan. 

“What game were you thinking?” asked Clary in an exasperated tone.

“Truth or dare,”

“Jace,” said Maia, “That’s not even a drinking game,”

“Then, we’ll take a shot as a forfeit for not answering the question or doing the dare. It’s been a long week and I need an excuse to get a little drunk, so let’s do this,” Jace clapped his hands together.

“Alright,” sighed Izzy, “I’ll start. Simon, truth or dare?” 

“Uhh truth,”

“What was your first kiss like?”

Simon burst out laughing, “Clary and I were ranting about how much we hated the pressure of having a good first kiss, so she just goes ‘Simon, let’s get this over with’ and then we were each other’s first kisses,” The rest of the group chuckled at the story.

“How old were you?” asked Maia, still laughing at what Simon told them Clary had said.

“I think around thirteen,” said Simon. “Alright, my turn. Jace, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” said Jace.

“I dare you to let someone else here give you a new hairstyle,”

“No, none of you are touching my hair,” Jace took a shot “Magnus, truth or dare?”

“Truth,”

“Have you ever cheated on someone?”

“No, and I never would,” said Magnus without pausing for a moment, “Maia, truth or dare?”

“Dare”

“I dare you to let Clary draw on your face in pen,” said Magnus, using his magic to get a pen for Maia. By the time Clary was done, Maia had a flower drawn on her right cheek, a tree drawn on her forehead, and a bird drawn on her left cheek.

Maia shrugged as she looked in the mirror, “You let Clary draw them so they’re actually really good. Alec, truth or dare?”

“Truth,” said Alec, clearly not wanting to get up from the couch where he had his head resting on Magnus’ shoulder.

“What’s the biggest lie you ever told your parents?”

“That I was straight and definitely wanted to marry Lydia. Other than that I never really kept much from them,” said Alec, he figured his answer was kind of obvious and didn’t know why Jace wasted his question on that, “Izzy, truth or dare?”

“Dare”

“I dare you to kiss the person in the room you find most attractive,” Alec said. The dare seemed odd to Izzy coming from Alec, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He exchanged a look with Clary so she would know what he was doing as well. Magnus could feel Alec chuckle lightly at the nervous face Clary made back.

A million thoughts were racing through Clary’s mind. What if she kissed someone else, like Maia or Simon? Clary was the only single one there who wasn’t Izzy’s brother so even if Izzy did kiss her, would that just be because she was the only option? Alec was not kidding when he said he would help her figure out if Izzy was interested. 

Izzy made a face at Alec, she must have found the dare odd coming from him, but she had a suspicion she knew what he was trying to do. Wordlessly, Izzy stood up from her chair and walked over to Clary on the couch. Izzy stood in front of her, a gentle smile on her lips. She reached for Clary’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Their hands remained intertwined as Izzy’s free hand ran across Clary’s cheek and through her hair. Slowly, Izzy leaned forward to plant a kiss on Izzy’s lips. 

Izzy’s lips were soft, and as they kissed Izzy’s hand stayed in Clary’s hair. This kiss was not quick like the others. Izzy took the opportunity to kiss Clary sweetly. She poured all of her feelings for Clary into the kiss, and Clary did the same as she kissed back. When they broke apart Izzy’s fingers remained intertwined with Clary’s until she slowly walked back to her seat. 

The game went on as normal for a few more rounds. Eventually, Simon and Maia announced that they were leaving. They said their goodbyes and walked out of the loft hand in hand. A short while later, Jace said he was leaving. He asked Izzy and Clary if they were coming with him; Clary said she would, but Izzy declined in favour of helping Magnus and Alec clean up. Jace and Clary hugged everyone goodbye and headed back for the Institute. 

“So,” said Jace as he and Clary walked, “Izzy kissed you… Again,”

“Yeah,” Clary couldn’t help but blush at the memory of Izzy’s lips on hers, “Thanks to Alec,”

Jace chuckled, “He told you he would find out if she liked you back,”

“I still don’t know though,” said Clary with a slight sigh.

“What do you mean you ‘don’t know,’” Jace stopped and turned to Clary, “She kissed you, in case you forgot,”

“She kissed me instead of anyone else who was there, who included: you and Alec - her brothers, Magnus - her brother’s boyfriend, and Simon and Maia - who are a couple. I was the only single person there who wasn’t related to her, of course she kissed me,” 

“I think that there was a little more to it than you being the only option,” Jace continued to walk, “but what do I know?”

“Not whether she actually is interested in dating me or not,”

“No,” shrugged Jace, “but I’m sure Alec will know by the end of the night. She stayed back to help them clean up, but he will definitely ask her about you. He told you he would find out, and if Alec is one thing, he’s determined,”


	6. The Truth

“So,” said Alec, as they were washing the dishes, “you kissed Clary tonight,”

“That’s true,” said Izzy, pretending she didn’t know what Alec was trying to find out, “I didn’t expect a dare like that from you. How much have you had to drink tonight,”

“Not that much,” said Alec, carefully ignoring Izzy’s comment on his dare, “I didn’t know you liked girls,”

“I guess I never told you,” Izzy shrugged, “I figured you knew anyways. I’m bisexual,”

“When did you know?” asked Alec.

“Since I was 15, when Aline visited the Institute for the first time. That’s when I realized I liked girls as well, I knew I liked boys well before that,” said Izzy, “When did you know?”

“I didn’t know you were bisexual until tonight,” joked Alec, knowing what Izzy was asking, but bugging her anyways.

“You know what I meant,” Izzy rolled her eyes and shoved Alec a little.

“I kind of knew I was gay when I was around 13, but I refused to really accept it. I always thought that if I married a woman someday it would ‘fix me’ somehow. And that was tradition, you know, it’s what was expected of me. I spent so long not wanting to acknowledge that part of me. When Magnus became part of my life, he showed me that I could accept myself and live my life in a way that would make me happy,”

Izzy gave Alec a hug, “I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am so proud of you for being yourself and coming out,”

“I’m proud of you too, Iz,”

A few moments later Magnus walked in. He had been cleaning up the living room. Although he could do it with magic, he wanted to do it himself.

“How are the dishes coming along?” Magnus asked, as he walked in. 

“There’s still a little pile left,” said Izzy.

“I can just finish them up with magic,” said Magnus, “You two have been busy washing for so long,” Magnus waved his hands around, cleaning up the last pile of dishes. 

“Izzy, I have a work question for you,” said Alec.

“Alexander,” said Magnus, “You’re off work, it can wait,”

“It’s just a quick question so I can make a decision on something tomorrow,” said Alec, turning back to Izzy, “I got a complaint from one of the trainees, Jeremy Whitacre, saying you and Clary were harassing him. I told him I was there for the training, and I saw nothing, and that I know neither of you would ever harass him. He was insistent on it though, he said you were yelling at him and Clary punched him. What happened?”

“If Clary punched him in the face, he definitely deserved it,” commented Magnus.

“I’m honestly surprised he brought this up to you. He was being homophobic so I called him out on it. When he continued, Clary punched him in the face,” said Izzy.

“What was he saying,” asked Alec.

“It was after you and Magnus left for dinner. He was saying rude things about you dating a man. I would usually tell you if there was an incident at the Institute, but I didn’t want to tell you about what he said and have you have to see him everyday,” said Izzy, “I figured you deal with enough homophobic comments from people, you didn’t need to hear about more,”

“I’ll ask him about the situation again tomorrow,” said Alec, “I know you and Clary were trying to protect me, but you have to tell me when things happen at the Institute. That being said, how hard did Clary hit him?” 

“If it weren’t for his healing rune, it would have left a wicked bruise,” said Izzy with a smile.

“Clary is amazing,” said Magnus. Izzy nodded in agreement. 

“Speaking of Clary,” said Alec, “I was trying to ask earlier. Do you like Clary?”

“As friends?” asked Izzy.

“You know that’s not what I’m asking,” said Alec. 

“Yeah,” said Izzy, “but I don’t think she likes me back. I’ve kissed her like five times in the past few weeks and she always pretends like nothing happened. I keep getting the feeling that she might feel the same, but it doesn’t really seem like it,”

“Can I let you in on a secret?” said Magnus, “She likes you back,”

“How do you know?” asked Izzy.

“Because she told me,” said Magnus. 

“So,” said Alec, “That means the next time you see her you’re going to tell her how you feel, right?”

“If she’s still up I’ll tell her tonight,” said Izzy.

“Then what are you waiting for? Get back to the Institute,” said Alec.

“Do you want me to portal you there?” asked Magnus. 

“Um, yeah,” said Izzy. In a matter of seconds Magnus opened a portal and sent Izzy back to the institute. 

Once the portal was closed, and Izzy was gone, Magnus said, “When you told Clary you would set them up, you were not kidding,”

“I meant what I said that night, Izzy deserves someone who will make her happy, and I think Clary is that person. I know what it’s like to be so happy and in love with someone, and I want that for them,” said Alec, intertwining his fingers with Magnus’

✤✤✤

When Izzy arrived back at the Institute, she walked towards her room, passing by Clary’s room on her way. As she passed, she noticed Clary’s light was on. Despite knowing that Clary told Magnus she likes her, Izzy was still nervous to talk to Clary about it. Izzy quietly knocked on Clary’s door, not wanting to wake her up if she was asleep. A moment later, Clary opened the door. She seemed happy to see Izzy, although slightly confused as to why she was visiting at such a late hour.

“Can I talk to you about something?” Izzy asked. Clary nodded, and gestured for Izzy to come in. Izzy closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake up Jace, his room being right across the hall. 

“What’s up?” asked Clary, sitting on her bed, and gesturing for Izzy to do the same. 

“I wanted to talk about kissing you tonight,” said Izzy, “and all those other times,”

Clary blushed, “I know you were dared tonight. You didn’t really have a lot of options either. And the other times… I knew it was no big deal, and you didn’t mean anything by them”

“I really did mean something by them, though,” said Izzy, “I really like you,”

“As friends?” asked Clary, both oblivious and disappointed. 

“As more than that,” said Izzy.

“Really, you like me?”

“What’s not to like?” Izzy tucked Clary’s hair behind her ear. 

“I really, like you too,” said Clary with a soft smile. 

Izzy smiled back, “Magnus told me you did, but I didn’t know it was true until now. I thought he was just humouring me,”

“I can’t believe Magnus told you,” said Clary, she tried to sound upset, but she was smiling too much. 

“It’s a good thing he did. I would have never had the courage to tell you how I feel otherwise,”  
Izzy grabbed Clary’s hands in her own, “Clary, you are the most incredible person I know. Everything about you amazes me. I never knew how to tell you this, so I kissed you and hoped you would get the message; but I should have told you. I honestly think I’ve been falling in love with you since your first week at the institute. Everytime I’m with you, I realize more things I love about you. I don’t know if I’m coming on too strong, but I just need you to know how incredible you are, and how much I care about you. Would you like to go out with me?”

“I would love to go out with you, Iz,” said Clary, “I knew for a long time that I wanted to be with you, I just never expected you would feel the same,”

Izzy smiled, “Can I kiss you for real?” Clary nodded. 

Izzy leaned in to kiss Clary, threading her fingers through Clary’s hair just like she did the last time they kissed. Clary threw one arm over Izzy’s shoulder, and the other rested on Izzy’s hip. Izzy slowly leaned forward, then stopped, allowing Clary to close the distance. The kiss was slow, and with more feeling than any of the others. They broke apart smiling, resting their foreheads together. Finally, Clary knew what the kiss meant.


End file.
